This disclosure relates generally to riveting operations, and more specifically to the formation of consistent rivet joints.
Hand, or manual, riveting operations are commonly performed in connection with many different assembly processes. For example, in connection with assembly of an aircraft, hand riveting is performed in connection with forming many different joints. In performing a manual riveting operation, an operator inserts a shaft of a rivet through aligned openings of the materials to be joined. The operator pushes the rivet shaft through the aligned openings until a head of the rivet rests against a material surface. The operator then presses a riveting tool, e.g., an air hammer, into contact with the rivet head, and holds a bucking bar against an end of the shaft, sometimes referred to as a buck tail. Then operator activates the air hammer, which causes the tail to deform, or buck, against the bucking bar. Such process sometimes is referred to as bucking. Consistently manually forming solid rivet joints as described above is dependent on the skill of the operator.
Generally, buck tails are compressed to within a defined range with specific tolerances. The defined range and specific measured tolerances may vary from application to application, and can be empirically determined. If the buck tail is not sufficiently compressed, i.e., under compressed, to within the defined range and tolerances for a specific operation, then additional bucking may be performed. If the buck tail is over compressed, then the rivet typically is removed and a new rivet operation is performed. Such rework of under compressed and over compressed rivets adds costs and time to forming rivet joints.
When forming a rivet joint between components, typically there are no gaps between the surfaces of the components being joined. Generally, the surfaces are held in tight contact by the compressed rivets. Frequent checks may be conducted to locate any gaps. If a gap does exist, the components may be forced together by other manual operations. In some instances, it is possible that there are significant gaps, in which case the rivets may need to be removed and the entire joint reformed. Such gaps can result from numerous different causes, such as if the bucking bar is not fully aligned with the buck tail during bucking. As with the rework for under compressed and over compressed rivets, the work associated with eliminating gaps also adds costs and time to forming rivet joints
Since the operator typically holds the bucking bar in one hand when performing a manual rivet operation, the operator is subject to the vibration associated with the bucking operation. The operator may wear impact gloves or use a padding material on the bucking bar to reduce the vibrations transmitted from the bar to the operator. Also, at least some known bucking bars are air damped, to facilitate reducing vibration forces acting on the operator.